HomeMy WebLinkAbout9-15-26 Enderle Center DriveURGENT FIRE SAFETY OBJECTION TO PROPOSED STREET VACATION (RESOLUTION NO. 26-30)
PROJECT: Campo on 171h / Enderle Center Drive Closure Hearing
HEARING DATE: Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 6:00 PM
SUBMITTED BY: Concerned Residents of Tustin
TO THE ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY, THE HONORABLE MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE TUSTIN
CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY ATTORNEY: 300 CENTENNIAL WAY, TUSTIN. CA. 92780
We formally object to the proposed vacation and closure of Enderle Center Drive. Granting this street
closure to accommodate a private developer's design configuration creates an immediate, catastrophic
threat to human life regarding fire evacuation and emergency response. Approving this resolution
exposes the City of Tustin to immense long-term civil liability.
1. CRITICAL THREAT TO LIFE: Wildfire and Structural Fire Evacuation Bottlenecks
Enderle Center Drive is a vital neighborhood emergency egress route. Eliminating this right-of-way
clusters local traffic into a severely restricted bottleneck.
• Evacuation Traps: In a fast-moving fire event, hundreds of escaping residents will be forced onto
fewer roads, creating gridlock that could trap citizens in the path of a fire.
• Emergency Delays: Entering Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) heavy apparatus and ladder
trucks will be forced to compete with fleeing resident traffic on a single, choked access point,
delaying life-saving intervention when seconds matter.
2. Absolute Discretionary Immunity Waiver and Future Tort Liability
While public entities generally enjoy immunity for "poorjudgment" in planning decisions, "Design
Immunity' (Gov. Code § 830.6) is legally broken if a city approves a plan despite having clear notice of a
hidden, highly dangerous condition. By approving this closure over the explicit safety warnings of the
neighborhood, the City of Tustin knowingly creates a public property hazard. This completely strips the
city of its statutory immunities, leaving Tustin strictly liablefor any future wrongful deaths, personal
injuries, or property losses caused by fire -related gridlock.
3. Strict Constitu0onal Liability via Inverse Condemnation
Under settled California Supreme Court precedent (areidert v. Southern Pacific Co.), property owners
possess a private easement of ingress and egress to the general public street system. Severing this
critical access route —especially when it destroys emergency egress —constitutes a "substantial
impairment" of access. This renders the City strictly liable for financial damages under Inverse
Condemnation for the resulting drop in neighborhood property values,
4. Explicit Violation of Streets & Highways Code § 8324
Under California law, this Council has zero legal authority to vacate a public road unless it makes a formal
finding that the street is "unnecessary for present or prospective public use." Because this road is
actively used and serves a vital public safety purpose, a finding that it is "unnecessary' is legally
fraudulent. Any approval based on this finding is vulnerable to an immediate Writ of Administrative
Mandate (CCP § 1094.5) to halt construction.
CONCLUSION & REQUESTED ACTION
We demand that the City Council DENY Resolution No. 26-30. At minimum, we request a Continuance of
this hearing until the Orange County Fire Authority issues a certified, unconditioned written safety report
explicitly guaranteeing that closing Enderle Center Drive will result in zero net delay to neighborhood
evacuation times and fire department response capabilities.
Respectfully submitted,
NAME
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